Monday, May 28, 2007

Last Wednesday evening AJ had his 1 hour baseball practice at 5 pm. His practices are just up the hill at the school the kids attend. I dropped him off and told him I'd pick him up after practice. I needed that extra time at home. It was to be a busy evening with variety of tasks to be completed on a variety of time tables. Brownies to be made and baked for 27 minutes. A marinade to be made and simmered for 3o minutes, before marinating meat for 15 minutes. These and other things needed to be done before dinner. I set to work and tried to eye my schedule. Significant chopping, measuring and stirring required for the never-before-tried Spicey Apricot Ribs Glaze. Finally, I finished the marinade, put the meat in it, and took out the brownie box to glance at ingredients. I realized I had no eggs. Thinking I could head over to the neighbors to borrow eggs-I consulted my watch to check if they would be home from work. Oh great! It was 6:30, of course they would be home from work by now. 6:30!!!!OH SHIT!I was supposed to pick up AJ at 6:00!!!I sprinted to the car and floored the mini-van out of the cul-de-sac and up toward the school. While the school is only about 1/3 of a mile away, part of the route is a busy, curvy road that has no sidewalks. As I rounded the second curve-there was AJ, safely walking on the edge of the road against traffic. Dressed in his black baseball pants, matching A's jersey & hat, he was comfortably rambling his way down the hill. I jumped the car into a driveway and motioned for him to get in."Mama where were you?""Alex, I am SO SORRY! What were you doing?""I was walking home.""Mama, why didn't you pick me up?""I made a HUGE mistake! I am so sorry!"And with no real distress in voice, "That's okay."He said he thought about asking coach John for a ride home, but then felt shy and didn't do it.As we drove to the store to buy eggs we rehearsed potential options should this same event repeat itself. On the way home I asked him if he had felt scared, he said "maybe a little".It continues to amaze Pops and I about what causes distress for him. Loosing a tooth was much higher on the stress scale than my forgetting him. AJ did show some really good problem solving skills. Of course he should have talked to someone. But he did wait for an appropriate amount of time, and then he started to walk home. He was going the right way and he was safely walking on the edge of the road. Pops and I felt proud of him for coming up with those ideas. Unfortunately, I still have taken a huge hit on my cumulative Mommy points.

I frequently feel tired even though I sleep TONS. Sleeping is my retreat. Things start to get nutty-and I start to feel sleepy and think, I want to go to sleep. Not the best coping mechanism. It leaves many of my responsibilities ignored. And surprisingly, note sarcasm here, things are the same when I wake up.I was thinking earlier about this. It would also probably help if I didn't eat a diet comprised mostly of crappy foods. Ah, something to work on here.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Java puppy is nearly 8 months old. She is a bit taller than Sisi and weighs about 50 pounds. In other words, a very big goof. She has that skinny, lanky, teenager look. Her ears seem to be set high on her head. This results in them often flipping back on top of her head. She looks like a little girl whose pigtails have unknowingly become stuck on her head. She still occasionally climbs into the bathtub with the kids. She will now tolerate my going in to my office and working with a client without going nuts on the other side of the door. She loves playing with the kids and does go nuts if she can't get out and be with them. Yes, she sleeps on our bed. She and Sisi have become fast friends and love to wrestle. It took Sisi 6 weeks before she was willing to play with her. She is a goofy, fearful, stubborn and marginally intelligent dog. I'm glad she is here.

Beautiful Brown, or Sisi the chocolate lab, almost succeeded in trying to kill herself on Pops birthday. Previous posts have appropriatley labelled her as,"She who makes poor eating choices." Vommitting, severely dehydrated, vommitted blood...rule out pancreatitis...gaurded...transfering vets 2 times.Poor ol' brown she looked SO VERY SICK. I knew it was serious when I took her in. It was a long and trying day. Sisi was a wedding gift to Pops and I 10 years ago. She is like the first baby. She is also one of the gentlest, sweetest, playful most beautiful dogs I've ever known. Losing her would be devastating. The good news is she is fine. It has been nearly a week now. She is here asleep on the couch. Still on a diet of chicken and rice and pills twice a day of antibiotics, pepcid, etc. I've spent more time cooking her dinner thean my own. This year for vacation it looks like we went to the vet. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Notes:~We found a kids book at a book vendor that focused on adjectives, "Bright, vibrant and somewhat trashy." I told Janice it described her.

~Dee is cool and hip and looks like she is 18

~Carol Channing and her husband were surprise speakers. They are 86 and 87 respectively. A darling and humorous pair. She has had so much plastic surgery that a smile adorns her face even while she sleeps. She was a bit dingy with age, but nonetheless, such a fabulous woman.

~Four children received awards for music that they had composed. I am talking about wildly complicated stuff composed and played by an 8 year old. I let the people around me know that my child was very gifted in compositions played on the Kazoo.

~The President elect of District 17 (San Mateo county wide PTA) is 47 and climbed mount Kilamanjaro last summer.

~Dee won 2 awards for District 17, and she still looks like she is 18.

~We danced the night away with 1,000 of our closest PTA Mommas. PTA Poppas are a rarity. That is a lot of Momma Booty doing the electric slide. Janice and I had a fab Freak Dance session.

~It is after midnight and Janice is down in the bar hanging with a couple of PTA Mommas. Or she was 30 minutes ago. I may have to carry thru with my threat to march down in my Eeyore pajamas. As we all know, effective parenting is all about doing what you say you'll do.

~I expected the convention attendees to be a group of nerdy, over-protective, anal, conservative white women. I have been proven wrong. While the majority are white and middle/upper income-there are some serious ball busters here.

~Dee is fun, warm and wise soul. I am so glad I got to know her better. And she looks like she is 18.

~Briefly, I have learned a lot, got some great resources, had a great time and am very pleased I came. A more serious entry later about our work here.

Ki, "Mommy, is George Bush the president?"me, "Yes, he is."Ki, "So is he the same as George Washington?me, "mmmm, well..."Ki, "Or is he like Curious George the Monkey?"me, "Yes, more like that."Ki, "Is 'Bush' like a tree-bush?"me, "It may be."Ki, "Okay."

Janice, Dee and I drove to Sacramento for the annual Ca state PTA convention. In my wildest dreams I never thought I'd be a PTA Mom and drive a mini van. As Janice points out, atleast my minivan isn't "beige" like hers. Or "desert mica" as the jaunty people might call it. I think the difference is the Special Ed PTA group we are in is an ass kicking group of woman that I will always want on my side. As individuals these woman will leave the world a better place and as a group, we have the potential to move mountains.

We are keeping a running list of highlights from this trip. Thurs thru Sunday!~Over 2,000 people hereThere must be 50 vendors here with samples of cookies from their cookie dough fund ~raising products.~We follow strict parlimentarian procedure here and have a gentleman, Dr. Shilanski, who is a Certified Parlimentarian. AKA Certified Anal Retentive~as a result of the above there has been a lot of talk about wanting to "amend the amendment of the amendment of the resolution"~Arnold S. (governor) was supposed to come and speak. Evidently he couldn't make it across the street. We are going to go toilet paper his capitol building later~Last night Janice went down to have a drink in the bar. I told her midnight was her cufew and if she wasn't back on time I was going to march right down there in my Eeyore pajamas. (yes, I have Eeyore pajamas)~There is woman with eggplant colored hair~Janice commented, "There is a lot of dress barn goin' on here."~Janice has a left her baby at home and her bodacious tata's keep fillig with milk. I am afraid if I lean against her, she will explode and hose me.

More serious report at another time-getting good info here and connecting with people who have succesfully done some things our spec ed group would like to do

About Me

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist (Speech Therapist) with over 25 years of experience. I specialize in evaluating and treating feeding difficulties. Feeding evaluations, and many therapy sessions, are done in collaboration with the Occupational Therapist at Sage Therapy. Izzy, a golden retriever, is a specially trained therapy dog who rounds out our team.